


It's Hard To Fight Shadows When You're Deaf

by orphan_account



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Deaf Character, Deaf!Amamiya Ren, Deaf!Kurusu Akira, Deaf!Persona 5 Protagonist, M/M, Metaverse (Persona 5), Slight pegoryu, if you squint a tad, kamoshida's palace, persona corner inspired me to write this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:21:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25515688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ryuji meets this kid, and at first glance, he knew the next year would be much different with him around.---Retelling of Persona 5 with Deaf!Akira, and all from Ryuji's POV
Relationships: Amamiya Ren & Sakamoto Ryuji, Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira & Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist & Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 9
Kudos: 72





	It's Hard To Fight Shadows When You're Deaf

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya, this fic uses the name Akira Kurusu for the Persona 5 Protag!
> 
> I mentioned this idea in the persona corner discord server and everyone hyped me up so I wrote it, if you're from there and reading this ,,, hi,,, i owe you guys my life
> 
> also there is a SPRINKLE of pegoryu here sorry not sorry lolol
> 
> edit: the game is meant to be in Japanese, even if you have the western copy, but all signs depicted are in ASL, so I replaced "do you speak Japanese" with "do you speak English?"  
> all sign translations are in the footnotes!

Ryuji made his way to school, expecting another boring, bland day, just another he counts down until he graduated or dropped out. This changed when he saw Ann. He tried waving to her, but she seemed too preoccupied- and then Kamoshithead showed up. _Shit, not again._ He was sick of this dudes bull.

"Ann! Ann!" He shouted, starting to run over. _I know you hate me, but for god's sake, let me walk you instead of getting in the car with this asshole!_ The window rolled up and the car was much faster than he was. "Dammit... Screw that pervy teacher." He muttered to himself. The blond glanced back, seeing a boy look at him confused. He frowned. "What do you want? You plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?" _Who the fuck is this kid? Why is he lookin' at me like that?_

The boy blinked at him before tapping his index from near his ear to near his mouth, making an arched movement. Ryuji furrowed his brow, scratching his head. The new kid tapped it again, which confused the blonde further.

 _Is that gang? Gang for what? Does he not know how to use his words?_ "Kamoshida? The guy in the car just now?" He gritted his teeth, the thought of that idiot making him mad. "He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is? The king of a castle?" He made eye contact again. "Don't you agree?" The black-haired boy just gave him a confused look before starting to fish something out of his bag, struggling to find it. "Do you... not know who Kamoshida is? Are you for real? You're from Shujin, right? I mean, you got the uniform.."

The boy huffed when failing to find whatever he was looking for. He did the cheek thing again, frowning and pointing to himself and tapping his cheek slower. Ryuji still had no idea what he was doing.

"You messin' with me? Do you not speak English?" _He's fuckin' with me._ _One bad reputation with Kamoshidick and suddenly you're a villain._ He frowned and continued his walk, stopping when his gravity was thrown off balance and he stumbled, holding his head. "Ugh, my head hurts." _I might just say fuck it and go home. I've had enough absences, it's not like things can get any worse..._

He continued walking towards the academy despite his regrets, taking the shortcut he took every day. When he heard a splash in the puddle behind him, he looked back. It was the kid from earlier, following him.

"You're like a goddamn lost puppy or some.... woah." He looked up, his school had become a castle, as if his words made things reality. It was tall, probably double the height of the real school. It seemed to be covered by fog, and the two stood in front of a large gate, which was most likely the front steps of Shujin Academy. _What in the utter fuck..._

Ryuji gawked at it- he took this way to school every single day, and not once had he seen this. He looked over at the new kid, waving his hand toward himself as a 'follow me' motion, hoping he understood simple dialect. _Maybe he's lost? Maybe he's a shy kid or something? He looks my age but he looks so confused... what is your deal, dude?_

He entered what should be his prestigious school and saw only a stereotypical castle, with a huge painting of Kamoshida in the center. He made a face of disgust, scoffing at the canvas. He looked back at the kid. "You seein' this?" And to his surprise, the boy nodded. "Wait, you understand me?" He nodded, doing the cheek thing again, which made Ryuji groan. "I don't understand _you_!"

The lanky boy set down his bag, searching through it, huffing when he didn't find what he wanted. Ryuji sighed. _I hate being a babysitter._

A... knight appeared it's clanking surprising only him. Ryuji took a step back, and instinctively, in front of the boy he had just met, as some form of barrier between him and the newcomer. "Who're you? Your... costume is impressive. I thought the plays usually happen in the Fall." Another one approached, which made Ryuji put an arm up in front of the stranger behind him. "Hey, this isn't funny anymore! T-Time out!"

"Take them away!"

* * *

Ryuji remembered his back hurting like a motherfucker when he awoke to be laying on the stone ground. It was cold and uncomfortable, so not the best sleeping conditions. He sat up and observed the room he'd been thrown into. He seemed to be in a cell. He rushed to the door, looking out and seeing just more cells. He sighed, and turned around, before seeing Mister-I-Don't-Speak laying on a wooden bed, passed the fuck out. He kneeled in front of him, shaking him a bit. "Hey. Wake up."

The teen sat up and looked around and sighed as if he was over it all. He looked up at Ryuji and then back down to the floor, resting his head in his hands.

"You all right? Oh, right, you don't understand me." He sighed. "Gah, what's going on?! Is this a dream or not?!" He went back to the door and kicked it. "Dammit! Where are we?! Some kind of fucking TV set?! I'd like to see them air that! Fuck, shit, pussy, ass! Nice try getting on the air now!" He kicked the door again and heard a scream from down the hall, out of pain. 

Quiet-Ass came up to the door, looking out it. Ryuji did the same. 

"What was that just now, dude?" He heard more screams and backed up. "Woah, woah, woah, you're shittin' me, right?" The boy started to look around, which made Ryuji even more nervous. He checked all the barrels and the... chains on the wall, the bed, everything. For what he was searching for, Ryuji had no idea. An alarm sounded and he looked outside. "Huh? You hear that?"

Four guards came up to the door, which made Quiet-Ass step back. "Be glad your punishment has been decided upon. Your charge is 'unlawful entry.'"

A familiar voice echoed from the chamber below. "No one's allowed to do as they please in my castle." Kamoshithead came up the stairs, with a robe of hearts and a big ol' crown on his head. His eyes were a piss yellow, which differentiated from his ugly brown ones. _Please tell me he has shorts underneath that stupid bathrobe._

"Wait, is that you, Kamoshida?" Ryuji took a step back in shock, looking up and down his insane outfit.

"I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it'd be you, Sakamoto..." The dickhead let out an evil laugh, like every villain in every crappy movie does. "Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven't learned your lesson at all, hm?" He looked over at Quiet-Ass, which made Ryuji attempt to step in front of him, trying to protect him any way he could. "And you brought a friend this time... because you can't do anything for yourself."

"This isn't fucking funny, you dick!" He shouted in his face. He's already in prison, how much more trouble can he possibly get into?

"Is that how you speak to your ruler? It seems you don't understand the position you're in! First, you sneak into my castle, and then you insult the King?! Ho ho ho, it's a good thing I've already decided your punishment because it's death! Execute him!" Kamoshida threw his arm in the air, showing off that he had nothing but a speedo underneath, which made Ryuji cover his eyes and groan out of disgust. The Knights entered the container, unlocking the door with a ring of keys, and backed the blonde into a corner, separating the two boys.

"G-Goddammit...!" He gathered all of his energy and rammed into one of the knights, throwing it onto it's back like a roly-poly. "Come on, quiet-ass, we're outta h-" He got slammed in the gut, throwing him back as the air was knocked out of him. "Ggh-"

Quiet-ass quickly started trying to pull the knights off the delinquent, but not doing enough damage for it to be worth it, at least in Ryuji's book.

"Just go, dumbass! Get out of here!" Ryuji shouted. _Ugh, not to sound like a movie character, but..._ "Go, and save yourself!"

"Oh, running away, are we? Some friend you must be." Kamodickhead laughed, watching this go down from the comfort of the hall. Frizzy-Hair didn't stop, pulling harder on the Knight's arm to get him off Ryuji.

Ryuji held his stomach in pain. "He- He ain't no friend of mine. Get out of here! Understand what I'm saying for four seconds and _leave_!" 

"He can't run if he tried, so I'll just focus on you, Sakamoto." The teacher came closer to the blonde, anger visibly filling the quiet boy with every step he took. Kamoshida punched Ryuji in the jaw, laughing all the same. And he didn't stop, his fists going in the same order: gut, face, shoulder, gut, face, shoulder. And when Ryuji had trouble standing, right on the head, knocking him to the ground. _You already broke one of my legs, are you not fucking satisfied?!_

Kamoshida spat on the former track star, making him furl his fists in anger. One of the knights lifted him by his neck before hurling him across the room, and this was all too bizarre... he was just starting to give up.

"I hope you aren't too attached to this pest because I'll kill him where he stands." Who he was talking to, Ryuji had no clue. He had his face on the ground, the cool prison flooring, soothing his face. "That look in your eyes irritates me."

He heard a grunt from the silent kid and then a thud. _Shit, not him, too..._ He heard fighting and retaliation from the now, surprisingly, rowdy transfer, and as he looked up, he could see anger and fear and determination in his gray eyes all at once.

The shadow lifted Ryuji by his throat and he tried to writhe free, not breaking eye contact from his... ugh... his friend. Ryuji gritted through his teeth. "I'm sorry, man."

Everything stopped and the guy didn't stop fighting, balling his hands into fists and yelling, which was the most Ryuji had heard out of him the whole day. He kept fighting, kicking, resisting, wriggling out of their grasps, which was visibly starting to piss Kamoshida off.

"Execute him!" The king ordered, making the knights focus elsewhere.

New Kid yelled again, which made Kamoshida turn around and release Ryuji, who crumpled to the ground.

"Take him out, too." Kamoshida grinned. Ryuji watched his friend get hit in the face, his glasses knocking to the ground. They pinned him by his neck with their spears and Ryuji tried to get to his feet, but his leg was giving up on him, even after a year of being healed.

A gust of wind exploded from him as the sword came down, aiming for the boy's throat. Ryuji looked up at him, and he now had a... masquerade mask on his face..? T _his is all getting weirder by the second..._ The teen started to tear it off, but it had merged with his face.

"What the fuck!" Ryuji gasped, blood gushing from the foreign's face, where the mask once rested. He now possessed the same eyes as Kamoshida, which made Ryuji panic, was his companion now evil too?

Blue fire engulfed him, a creature turning from the fire with chains, leaving his friend in a, not gonna lie, sick ass outfit. The creature pushed everyone away, doing his bidding at the flick of the wrist. _Who the fuck is this guy?!_ Kamoshida cowered in fear, leaving the two alone.

"I am Arsene." The creature announced.

"What the shit..." Ryuji stared. _So if the creature speaks English... does the kid not? Is his name Arsene? Or is that the red guy's..._

 _"_ Do you want the power I lend to get you out of this crisis?" He looked at the now masked student, who gave him a simple nod. Kamoshida ordered the guards to fight him, who turned into some... pumpkin... ugh, this is all too much. Ryuji backed into the corner, his previously broken leg aching like it never had. Kamoshida. _You aren't getting away with this._

The "superhero" took out the creatures and turned to his acquaintance on the ground, lending a hand out for Ryuji to grab. He seemed confused by his getup, but helpful nonetheless.

"What the shit was that?" He asked breathlessly. "Is there something about you I don't know?"

"You little brat!" Kamoshida pulled his arm back to hit the now powerful teen but Ryuji scrambled to his feet, getting one in on his face as the perv fell to the ground.

"You like that, you stupid sonofabitch?!" He grabbed the key off the ground, holding it in the air like the king was a toddler. It was amusing for all parties but the ruler. "Let's go, Quiet-y!" He ran out of the cell, locking Kamoshida inside. The king rose to his feet and he turned to the nicely dressed student, angry as hell. The teen seemed unphased, but Ryuji sure wasn't. "Hey, what was that?! Y-You're clothes- you look like a Victorian vamp-" And as soon as he uttered it, a gust of wind brought the new kid back to normal. 

"You brats!" Kamoshida banged on the door, making Ryuji signal to follow him and running off, throwing the keys into the odd river inside, hearing a satisfying splash as they were carried to wherever the river ended up.

It took the two a lot of running around and a lot of dead-ends, a lot of jumping across rivers and keeping up the momentum, despite all the roadblocks. Ryuji's leg ached, but he didn't stop running. _Dammit... it hasn't hurt since the last physical therapy session, which was like, a year ago. So why now?!_

Ryuji hesitated at a larger river, there were some empty cages within jumping distance, but he wasn't that confidant. Quiet-Ass, on the other hand, leaped across like it was nothing and started leading the way Ryuji followed, wobbling on one of them, but begrudgingly making it across. Silently, the student ran into one of the cells and getting on his knees to start crawling through a hole in the wall. Ryuji quickly tried to follow him, his bag getting stuck, so he was a tad behind, but hurried after him nonetheless.

"Woah- dude- look." He pointed at one of the cages over the river, holding a person begging for help. The solemn boy kept running right past him. He stopped at one cell though, frozen in his tracks once the... thing inside spoke. "Blondie! Frizzy-Hair! Over here!"

A cat-lookin' thing sat in the cage.. it was creepy as hell. "What the shit is that?!" Ryuji asked. He earned no answers, per usual, at this point.

"You two are prisoners, like me! Get me out of here!" The creature begged.

"No, _we_ need to get out of here, we can't go saving anyone else. How do we know you ain't tryna kill us, too?" He put a hand on Arsene... is that his name? Whatever. He put a hand on Quiet-Ass's shoulder, almost protectively.

"I'm locked up, too! So I can't be bad!" He jumped up and down, begging to be released. Quiet-Ass crouched down, staring at the creature intently. He seemed to say something, but it was too quiet to make out. The blue guy shook his head. "I'm no cat!"

"Shit they're coming this way. You!" He pointed at the... cat(?). "How do we get out of here? Can we contact someone outside?!"

"If you free me, I'll show you out! Just release me!"

Ryuji frowned, not wanting to trust the cat. But the new kid seemed fixated on him. He quickly opened the door, Ryuji starting to stop him. "Hey, wait- what if it's lying? What if it's messing with us?" But Quiet-A$$ continued opening the door, letting the creature free. "Don't let the monster cat free!"

"I am not a cat! My name is Morgana!"

The boy stomped his foot a bit to get the cat's attention, and then moved his hand weird- _is he a part of a gang?_ He was too fast for Ryuji to decipher what he was attempting to say- _Palms up, shake together, palm to the cat, index and middle fingers together... what?_

"My name is Morgana." The cat answered. Quiet-Ass moved his fingers against the back of his hand slowly. "Mor-Gah-Nuh."

Quiet-Ass stared at him, focused. "Mo-ah-na." He repeated. His voice was.. off. As if he hadn't learned to use it yet. Or like it wasn't his own. Or like he had a glob of peanut butter in it. The cat facepalmed at this, but Ryuji was more in surprise.

"Woah! You can talk?!" Ryuji took a step back. He heard footsteps and shook his head. "That's not what's important right now! Let's go!" He lifted the cat by the back of its bandana and put his hand on Quiet-Ass's back and rushed them away. "Morgana, where to next?!"

"Forward!" He writhed out of Ryuji's grasp, running ahead much further than them. "Follow me!"

They ran for a while, Ryuji's leg hurting like hell, even when they paused for the bridge. And Ryuji seemed too focused on his leg that it took his friend transforming back into a vampire to realize a shadow was right ahead.

"Be sure to watch, amateur!" Morgana jumped in front of him. One of those... blue-firey things appeared behind him, but it looked different. "Stay still, and you, frizzy-hair, let's go! Zorro! Come forth, Persona!" 

They took out whatever they had run into, and Ryuji watched, shocked. Frizzy-hair took it out in like, two hits. It felt like a dream. Except for the pain in his formerly-broken leg brought him to his senses. The enemy disintegrated to dust, and Ryuji stared, blinking. "Per...sona? Is that what those things are called?" _Do I have one? What do they do?_

"Of course. He tore off his mask and it appeared, right? Everyone has a mask deep in their heart- he tore his off. So-" The wind came through again, and frizzy-hair was back in his Shujin uniform. "So.. you must not have full control over it, hm? It normally shouldn't-"

"Can we drop it? You're making my brain hurt.." Ryuji massaged his temples. "I just wanna get out of here."

"Sit still and listen, popcorn-head!" The cat argued.

"Hey! My name is Ryuji!" He stomped. _I could crush you under my foot, you stupid monster!_

"Okay, 'Ryuji', listen- Actually, ugh, you're taking up too much time! We need to get out of here!" He planted something in Frizzy-Hair's hand and started to run. The two followed Morgana the whole way out until there was a cry for help. The voice sounded familiar, too.

"Hold on! Stop!" The two kept going. And Ryuji waved his arms in the air. "Stop! Someone's trapped!"

"Trapped?" Morgana asked, which made Frizzy-Hair turn around as well. "We can't afford to free anyone else! If we die here, nobody gets freed! We die, they d-"

"Stop there, intruders!" Another shadow appeared. Ryuji felt so damn _useless_ while the two started raring to go. While they battled it out (and every hit Quiet-Ass took, Ryuji flinched a bit more) he attempted to open the cage the best he could. He couldn't get it open, but the prisoner inside never reacted to his doing. He silently begged the door was open- he _needed_ to be useful. But, in the end, it was fruitless.

"That's taken care of." Morgana dusted off its hands... paws? "Let's go. Ryuji, if you want to stay here, that's ya free invitation, but the two of us value our lives!"

"I- ugh! We're coming back for them, though!"

The two kept running through the large castle, which the path was so confusedand weirdly, Quiet-Ass never got out of breath. Not even a little panting. _Maybe he was on track, too? On whatever planet he came from..._ They got to the entrance and Ryuji tried to open the door, but it refused to budge. Morgana rolled his eyes and went into an opposite room, which Frizzy-Hair followed like a moth to a flame. "The vent!"

"Just gotta get the mesh off." Ryuji quickly climbed up there, trying to do his heroic work. He pulled it off with too much force, falling off the shelf with a grunt. "Ugh, God, did the enemy hear us at all?"

"I doubt it," Morgana answered while Quiet-Ass held out a hand to help Ryuji up, which... somehow made his heart skip a beat. "You two go on, get out of here! I have an errand to finish."

Ryuji didn't need to be told twice. He climbed up, and when he stuck out a hand to offer to the student below, he was shocked to see him already up there behind him. "Gahh! You spooky- spooky motherfucker!" 

* * *

They got to the real world, Ryuji panting. Quiet-ass didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat. "God, you're so damn weird...

"Shouldn't you two be in school?" A police officer approached. 

"What-no, we tried to go! But we ended up in a-a castle! And my gym teacher- he was the king of it-"

The second police officer sighed, already sick of the delinquent's story. "Alright, hand over your bag, let's make sure you aren't on any drugs. You too." He gestured to the new boy. Frizzy-hair just watched, blinking absently. They searched Ryuji's bag and the cop frowned. "Hand over the bag, son."

Quiet-y quickly did the cheek thing, which made the officers look over at Ryuji, who awkwardly smiled for his friend. "He, uh, doesn't... speak English..?" He quickly started to remove his friend's bag, who allowed Ryuji to remove it with no struggles, taking his arm out of the straps and giving it up. 

The officers gave Quiet-y a mean look and searched through their bags, finding nothing. Ryuji got his back while the two consecutively went through the Persona holder's. They fished out a plastic bag with two machines in them, red with clear... tubes? There was a note on it, which the officers took the liberty to read aloud. "'You forgot these, kiddo. Good luck with your first day without them. Sojiro.' Like Sakura? He's a good man, good coffee, too. Hmm. Here you go, boys. Stay out of trouble." They handed the baggie back, with his backpack as well. The two quickly started walking, minus the weird route. Quiet-Mcgee took out the machines, adjusting with them the rest of the walk.

They arrived at the front steps when the Counselor appeared. "We received a call from the police of you're behav- Oh." His eyes settled on Quiet-Ass, who was now finicking with one of the machines on his ear. "So they meant you, hm?"

Kamoshida came out of the building, a grim smile appearing on his face. Ryuji took a step back and Frizzy nearly dropped the things he finicked with against his ear. "Oh, so it's you, Sakamoto."

"You're the one who locked us up!" Ryuji took a step forward, pointing at the villain. The neatly-dressed boy flinched a tad as if the blonde had screamed in his ear.

"Do not speak to him like that. He is your teacher and the pride of this school! You two, follow me." He beckoned them forth, Weirdo following him. 

They entered the faculty room, and the teacher for Class 2-D sighed upon their entrance. "Welcome to Shujin, Kurusu."

"Kurusu?!" He looked over at him. "So he does have a name?!"

"Oh, you must not know." She raised her eyebrows in question and gestured to the back of her ears. Kurusu..? Whatever his name is, nodded. "Ah, so you have your hearing aids."

"Wait a minute," Ryuji stopped her. "He's deaf?! You kiddin' me?! I've spent all morning trying to decipher him and he just couldn't hear me the whole time?!"

The loud noises made Kurusu wince and hold his head. This was ignored by everyone, but Ryuji still noticed it.

She sighed. "So you're the one who kept him late, huh? And now _I_ have to fill out the paper-work for it... Go to the counselor, like you're supposed to, Sakamoto. Let me talk to him." She lifted a file reading _Akira_ _Kurusu_ , and Kurusu... god, it's weird seeing he has a name, walked towards her while the Counselor put a hand on Ryuji's shoulder, pulling him back. 

After the lecture he earned, the rebel finally got to attend class, to hopefully ask if anyone knew the boy. And to Ryuji's surprise, the whole school already knew who Akira Kurusu was, for better or for worse.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading ;-; Comments greatly appreciated
> 
> sorry if there's any mistakes, I haven't written in a few months, but I'm hoping to start up again!
> 
> "cheek tap" = ASL for deaf  
> "Palms up, shake together, palm to the cat, index and middle fingers together" = ASL for "What is your name?"  
> "moved fingers up back of palm slowly" = ASL for "Slow"/"Slower"


End file.
